--- description: Venice's newly elected mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, wants to ban gay-pride parades because he thinks they are the "height of kitsch" title: Venice Mayor Says Gay-Pride Parades Are Too Kitschy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6876c51d5b13561f/6988611d8e0601cc3d462146/135834921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Mayor of Venice, Home of the Kitschiest Carnival, Wants to Ban Gay Pride for Being Too Kitsch by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2015 3:39 AM CUT  Luigi Brugnaro looks over during the Lega Basket Serie A match between Umana Venezia and Armani Jeans Milano at Palaverde in Treviso, Italy, on Dec. 11, 2011 Luigi Brugnaro looks over during the Lega Basket Serie A match between Umana Venezia and Armani Jeans Milano at Palaverde in Treviso, Italy, on Dec. 11, 2011Arturo Presotto — Iguana Press/Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2015 3:39 AM CUT Venice’s newly elected mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, wants to ban gay-pride parades in the Italian city because he thinks they are the “height of kitsch.” “There will never be a gay pride in my city,” Brugnaro told [_La Repubblica_](http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2015/08/26/news/%5Fmai%5Fun%5Fgay%5Fpride%5Fnella%5Fmia%5Fvenezia%5Fe%5Fbasta%5Fcon%5Fi%5Fsoloni%5Fdal%5Fdoppio%5Fcognome%5F-121635420/ "undefined"), an Italian daily newspaper, on Wednesday. “Let them go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes.” Italy, a largely Roman Catholic country, is one of the only Western European countries to deny both civil partnerships and gay marriage to their citizens, [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/26/us-italy-venice-gay-idUSKCN0QV1OD20150826 "undefined") reports. The government is presently having trouble passing legislation to legally recognize same-sex partnerships. Flavio Romani, the president of Italian gay-rights group [Arcigay](http://www.arcigay.it/who-we-are/ "undefined"), told Reuters that his organization has hosted gay-pride parades around the country for years. “Venice is not \[Brugnaro’s\] city. At the moment he is governing it, but he won’t last long given the fool he is making of himself,” Romani told Reuters. “Sadly in this country, some politicians listen more to what the bishops tell them rather than what society is saying.” Brugnaro, elected in mid-June on a center-right platform, pulled [49 books](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33978500 "undefined") featuring same-sex couples from school libraries in the city earlier this month. Openly gay pop icon Elton John was quick to respond to Brugnaro’s books move. “Beautiful Venice is indeed sinking, but not as fast as the boorishly bigoted Brugnaro,” John said in a [post](https://instagram.com/p/6XIQUNgGQ9/ "undefined") on his Instagram account. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/26/us-italy-venice-gay-idUSKCN0QV1OD20150826 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4012625/luigi-brugnaro-venice-gay-pride/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4012625/luigi-brugnaro-venice-gay-pride/"},"headline":"The Mayor of Venice, Home of the Kitschiest Carnival, Wants to Ban Gay Pride for Being Too Kitsch","datePublished":"2015-08-27T03:39:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:28:21.528Z","description":"\"There will never be a gay pride in my city\"","url":"https://time.com/4012625/luigi-brugnaro-venice-gay-pride/","keywords":["Italy","elton john"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6876c51d5b13561f/6988611d8e0601cc3d462146/135834921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6876c51d5b13561f/6988611d8e0601cc3d462146/135834921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Umana Venezia v Armani Jeans Milano - Lega Basket Serie A","caption":"Umana Venezia v Armani Jeans Milano - Lega Basket Serie A","creditText":"Arturo Presotto — Iguana Press/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4012625/luigi-brugnaro-venice-gay-pride/","name":"The Mayor of Venice, Home of the Kitschiest Carnival, Wants to Ban Gay Pride for Being Too Kitsch"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This is The History of the Rainbow Flag","description":"How the rainbow flag became an icon of LGBT rights","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bnTiT5cr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-24T22:02:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bnTiT5cr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4012625/luigi-brugnaro-venice-gay-pride/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4012625/luigi-brugnaro-venice-gay-pride/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```